Chapter 9: The Tide of Corpses Instance

Crash! On the rooftop of an abandoned building whose very walls had shed their skin, two flashes of white light appeared.

Wang Zihao and Song Qi landed.

“That was amazing! Absolutely exhilarating!”

“I couldn’t stand the smug look on his face just now. Finally, I got to give him a piece of my mind.”

As soon as Wang Zihao touched down, he let out two hearty shouts, clearly having been irked by his recent encounter with Chu Shaojiang.

“Doesn’t your family do business with the Chu family? Aren’t you afraid?” Song Qi asked.

“Afraid? Of what?” Wang Zihao laughed. “If business breaks down, both families lose out. Would such a major clan really ruin themselves over a squabble between kids? I doubt it.”

As he spoke, he glanced around with an amused expression. “By the way, which instance did you choose?”

“This looks like the abandoned city. Of the low-level instances with city elements, I remember only three. Did you pick ‘Slime Invasion’ or ‘Goblin Syndicate’?”

“Neither. I chose the one with the most experience points—‘Zombie Tide’,” Song Qi replied.

“Oh, ‘Zombie Tide,’ is it? Then we’d better be careful… Wait, what?!”

Wang Zihao’s smile froze on his face.

There were only about a dozen instances suitable for novice professionals. Of these, ‘Zombie Tide’ was notorious for granting the most experience, but also for being the most difficult to clear!

It was a unique instance—its final boss was simply the Mother of Zombies. The minor monsters were limited to zombies and mutant zombies. No lesser bosses, and even the monsters’ stats weren’t particularly high. Even mutant zombies, placed in another instance, would only be considered average fodder.

An unawakened newcomer, given the right weapons, could take out a few zombies for fun.

Yet, because of the endless waves of zombies and minor elites, ‘Zombie Tide’ had become the nightmare of countless lower-ranked professionals—and a prime hunting ground for those more advanced.

Which was exactly why Song Qi had chosen it. His third optional quest required an instance teeming with monsters.

“Wait, isn’t ‘Zombie Tide’ a special instance? We can’t unlock it yet… Oh, right! You’re a super S-rank talent—you have privileges.”

“No way! Did you really pick ‘Zombie Tide’?!”

Wang Zihao’s eyes went wide, and he stammered out his disbelief, before dashing to the edge of the rooftop to peer below.

The sight of streets swarming with zombies made him shudder. Still unconvinced, he checked their stats:

Creature: Zombie
Level: 4
Strength: 13
Constitution: 8
Agility: 6
Spirit: 3
Skills: [Bite][Infect][Mutate]

Upon seeing the monster’s stat panel, Wang Zihao was utterly despondent.

How are we supposed to fight that? Even a standard minor foe is this strong.

“Song Qi, I… I haven’t offended you, have I?”

“No, you haven’t,” Song Qi replied, puzzled.

“Then why did you pick ‘Zombie Tide’?” Wang Zihao was on the verge of tears.

People actually die in these instances. Once inside, you can’t leave unless you clear it. If they couldn’t finish, they’d be trapped here for life.

“Relax, we can handle it,” Song Qi said, reassuringly.

“Come on, a level one mage only learns Fireball, not some area spell like Meteor Shower. This may be the ‘experience instance,’ but that still depends on our abilities. We’re just a level one mage and a level one summoner, neither with any crowd-control moves—how are we supposed to clear this?”

“Leave it to me,” Song Qi said calmly, patting his chest.

He snapped his fingers, and a towering figure suddenly materialized before them.

Bang!

The rooftop shook as dust billowed—Song Qi’s summoned spirit, Lu Bu, had arrived.

Lu Bu was imposing, his armor heavy and thick, his entire frame like a walking tank, nearly caving in the concrete beneath him.

“Lu Bu, at your command, my lord!” Lu Bu knelt, awaiting Song Qi’s orders.

Seeing this, Wang Zihao’s composure returned a little.

“Lu Bu? A heavy-armored warrior-type summon?”

He circled Lu Bu, scrutinizing him several times. The sight of Lu Bu’s towering physique, splendid and solid armor, and his effortless grip on a halberd taller than most men filled Wang Zihao with hope.

“I get it! You want to use Lu Bu as a living bulwark to block the door, while we bombard from behind, whittling down the zombies bit by bit.”

“That’s a solid plan! Blocking the entrance and taking them one by one—it could work.”

His mind raced, then he nodded in sudden realization. “But for that, we’ll need to find a narrow choke point. This building’s no good—the walls are gone, and one push from a zombie horde could bring it down. We need one of those old alleys just wide enough for two. Let me look for one…”

He hurried to the edge, scanning for a suitable spot.

Song Qi ignored him and simply pointed downward. “Lu Bu.”

“At your service!”

“Go deal with the horde below.”

“As you command!”

Without hesitation, Lu Bu strode to the rooftop’s edge and leapt.

“No—!” Wang Zihao snapped out of his thoughts just in time to see Lu Bu plunge over the side. His outstretched hand froze in midair, a cold dread seeping through his body.

A level one summon leaping from a hundred-meter building? There’s no way he’d survive.

With Lu Bu’s departure, Wang Zihao’s last hope vanished. His expression shifted from hope to utter despair.

“Song Qi, what are you doing?!”

“This was the rooftop, after all.”

“How is it my fault? I wasn’t the one who made him jump,” Song Qi teased.

“You should have stopped him when you saw him going for the edge! Don’t you know most summons aren’t very bright? Even humanoid ones aren’t necessarily clever.” Wang Zihao was nearly breathless with grief. Their hope of clearing the instance had just evaporated before his eyes.

Boom!

A heavy crash echoed from the street below.

Wang Zihao closed his eyes. “It’s over. He’s probably a smear on the pavement.”

He slumped to the ground, looking up at Song Qi—who, to his surprise, was smiling calmly, showing no sign of distress at losing his summon.

“How can you laugh?” Wang Zihao snapped. “Think about how we’re supposed to clear this now! And with your first summon gone, how will you level up in the future?”

Song Qi waved a hand, still smiling. “Alright, enough teasing. Don’t worry, my summon isn’t dead. Don’t forget—I’m a super S-rank summoner.”

“Hmph!” Wang Zihao snorted, clearly unconvinced. “Super S-rank talent? Even a triple-S couldn’t survive a leap from this height at level one! And, more importantly, don’t you know—wait, what?”

He stopped mid-sentence, as if struck by a revelation. His pupils dilated dramatically.

[Experience +29]
[Experience +28]
[Experience +31]
...

A string of notifications rang in his mind. Someone was killing zombies.

His eyes widened even further, his mouth opening and closing wordlessly. He tried to speak, but his throat seemed blocked—only able to point down below, then at Song Qi.

“Yes, that’s right,” Song Qi nodded. “It’s my summon killing the zombies.”

“Holy—!” Wang Zihao leapt at Song Qi, clutching him in a tight embrace.

“Song Qi, you’re incredible!”

In that moment, Wang Zihao understood: what he was clinging to wasn’t just a lifeline—it was his future.